PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2026
Contact: Toni Parker
Great Oaks – Batavia DECA
BATAVIA DECA recognized for outstanding School-based Enterprise (SBE)
Batavia, OH. – Dawg Den, school-based enterprise at Batavia High School, was among 989 school-based enterprises
achieving gold for the 2025-2026 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development
Conference this April 25-28, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia.
A school-based enterprise (SBE) is an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to
meet the needs of the market. SBEs are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that
integrate National Curriculum Standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA advisors have utilized
this effective educational tool for over four decades to provide their students with realistic and practical learning
experiences that reinforce classroom instruction, enhance 21st Century skill development, and prepare students for college
and careers.
The Batavia DECA members who contributed to the certification were Vivian Kelch and Aliya Hamilton with the assistance
of their DECA chapter advisor, Toni Parker. The SBE at Batavia High School has operated for one year and is to be
commended for this achievement.
“DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program is a rigorous process designed to help DECA members
demonstrate their classroom learning in a practical, learning laboratory, and then translate that into meaningful
outcomes,” said Christopher Young, CAE, Chief Program Officer at DECA Inc. “These DECA members are practicing
important workplace readiness skills while preparing for college and careers.”
DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program provides recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based
enterprises and motivates SBEs to strive for excellence and growth. SBEs can be certified at three levels: bronze, silver or
gold. In order to apply for the certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation that explains how the SBE
demonstrates the practice of various marketing and retail standards. A review committee evaluates the documentation to
determine which level of certification has been achieved. DECA’s School-based Enterprise program is sponsored by Otis
Spunkmeyer Inc.
About DECA Inc.
DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest in marketing, finance, hospitality,
and management. DECA enhances the preparation for college and careers by providing co-curricular programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply
learning, connect to business and promote competition. DECA student members leverage their DECA experience to become academically prepared, community
oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders. DECA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with over 315,000 members in more than 4,000 high school and
college chapters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Germany.
For more information about DECA, visit www.deca.org.